Easter Dinner, Part 5: Broccoli Fritters

I’m always trying to come up with new ways to serve vegetables that everyone in my family will enjoy.  We all like broccoli, but it’s not our favorite go-to veggie.  I came across a broccoli fritter recipe a few weeks ago that sparked my attention.  I made a few modifications, to suit our tastes, and it was a huge hit.  We gobbled up every last fritter.  This might be a nice addition to the Easter dinner table this year.  This recipe makes 8-10 fritters, so if you’re serving a crowd, you’ll want to double or triple it.

Ingredients

1 medium bundle fresh broccoli (approx. 3 cups chopped)

½ cup flour 1 large egg ½ cup parmesan cheese 1 small clove garlic, minced

1 t lemon juice ½ t salt Vegetable oil, for frying

Cut the florets off the broccoli stem.  Peel the stem (it can be a little tough).  Cut the stem and florets into ½” pieces.  Place broccoli pieces in a large microwave safe bowl.  Add ½ cup water, cover, and cook about 5 minutes, until tender but not mushy.  Drain the water and mash the broccoli a little with a potato masher.  To the mashed broccoli, add the flour, parmesan cheese, egg, garlic, lemon juice, and salt and stir to combine.

Heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add 2 tablespoons oil.  When oil is hot, drop about 2 tablespoons of broccoli mixture into pan and flatten with your spoon to about ½”.  Add more broccoli mixture to the pan, leaving about an inch between each fritter.  Cook about 2 minutes, until nicely browned on the bottom, then flip and cook another 2 minutes on the other side.

Remove fritters from pan to a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with a dash of salt.  Repeat with remaining broccoli mixture, adding more oil to the pan as needed.  These can be kept warm in a 200º oven until ready to serve.